The penalty against Landgraf Motorsport’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 caused heated discussions at the ADAC GT Masters on the Nürburgring on Sunday. While Maro Engel openly described the penalty as a “joke”, the winners Jules Gounon and Fabian Schiller held back. Meanwhile, the topic is being passionately debated among fans. A look at the facts.
What advantage did Landgraf have anyway?
The first question asked is why would Raffaele Marciello have any advantage at all if he brakes and the other vehicle has to brake as well.
The answer is: “Track Position”. Delaying allowed Landgraf to simultaneously maintain the lead and stay within the mandated minimum time. Overtaking isn’t exactly easy on the Nürburgring sprint track, as the first stint showed. Jules Gounon followed Maro Engel like a shadow but was never able to attack him.
In the same way, Fabian Schiller would probably not have been able to get past Marciello – and vice versa, Marciello would not have been able to get past Schiller either if he had approached him again. It was therefore crucial which vehicle came out of the pit lane first. Whoever was ahead here would win the race.
How did ZVO get into attacking position in the first place?
After the dominant performance of the “Mamba” on Saturday, some were surprised at how well the ZVO Mercedes was able to keep up on Sunday. There are two reasons for this: ZVO once saved a fresh set of tires for the race on Sunday.
And on the other hand, the Landgraf-AMG had to pack 20 kilograms of ballast for victory on Saturday, ZVO drove with five kilograms. The placement weight is only invited to the race, not in qualifying.
When entering the pits, Gounon almost drove Engel into the rear and was right next to the “Mamba”.
The distribution of the pit places did the rest. This will be drawn. The team that has its pit space further towards the exit of the pit lane always has an advantage. Because this can react to the departing car further “up” in the pit lane.
A new passage in the regulations has also helped teams placed further “down” in the pit lane: It is no longer considered an “unsafe release” if a vehicle has to brake in the pit lane because another car is in its way. Landgraf must have considered all of this when Marciello was sent on the journey.
How would ZVO have made it out of the box in accordance with the rules if it hadn’t been for the Landgraf-AMG? Of course, it is difficult to say in retrospect, but it is not part of the investigation.
What do the regulations say?
The subject of “slowing down in the fast lane” is addressed twice in the Sporting Regulations.
Article 30.10: “At least penalty according to Article 16. It should also be noted that abnormally slow driving and obstruction of other participants will be penalized during the mandatory pit stop. The stewards reserve the right to further punishment, especially in the case of dangerous or multiple violations during the season.”
Article 39.2: “Abnormally slow driving or stopping in the fast lane is prohibited.”
And further in 39.3: “Any violation of the rules for pit stops or mandatory pit stops and falling short of the minimum duration of the mandatory pit stop by up to one (1) second will be punished with at least one penalty lap.”
This is where the crux of the matter becomes apparent: “Abnormally slow” is not defined. That’s why Marciello said after the race: “It just depends on how you interpret things.” This point was deliberately left open when the rules were created so that decisions could be made on a case-by-case basis.
What did Marcello do?
The data shows that Raffaele Marciello initially moves within the pit lane speed limit of 50 km/h. He then takes his foot off the gas, which leads to a significant drop in speed. The speed drops to up to 38 km/h.
It is not entirely clear whether Schilller was already behind Marciello at this point or whether this delay happened beforehand. Marciello accelerates back up to 50 km/h and then takes his foot off the gas again. This time the speed drops less, with a low of around 45 km/h.
Here Schiller is definitely behind Marciello and has to lob in order not to hit the “Mamba” in the rear, which is clearly visible in all replays. Both Mercedes-AMG leave the pit lane about half a second longer than the minimum pit time. So Marciello shouldn’t have delayed so much.
How can drivers see if they are on time?
Software is installed in the vehicles that was developed precisely for such races with specified minimum pit times. It’s called RaceLogic and works with GPS data. It shows a driver exactly when to set off.
The driver can then see his speed based on the extrapolation on the screen, whether he is too fast or slow. This is how the teams in the ADAC GT Masters manage to stay just fractions of a second longer than the minimum pit time. But sometimes things go wrong – as happened with the other “Mamba”, which lost the podium as a result.
What do Engel and Marciello say?
As already mentioned, Marciello spoke after the race of a matter of interpretation. He also confirms that he did not brake. “The rules say you can’t brake,” Marciello said after the race. However, as shown above, there is no mention of “braking” in either article.
Maro Engel, on the other hand, went on the offensive and rubbed salt in an ADAC wound: “The penalty is a joke for me. So it shouldn’t be surprising if people leave this championship at some point.” During the race he had also referred to the fact that no brake lights had been seen.
The ADAC GT Masters had to cope with a severe drop in participants after the 2021 season because several teams switched to the DTM. Engel is one of the drivers who drove in the ADAC GT Masters last year and is involved in the DTM this year.
He is still angry about a penalty he received at the 2021 ADAC GT Masters season finale, also at the Nürburgring. The penalty for turning Thomas Preining upset him in the 2021 final. He is convinced that this has robbed him and Luca Stolz of the title.
In the evening, Engel and Marciello then referred to the fact that the distance to the ZVO-Mercedes after the pit stop was exactly the same as when entering the pits.
How is race director Sven Stoppe doing in the paddock?
Engel is one of the few drivers who is upset about Sven Stoppe’s decisions. Since taking on the post of Race Director in the ADAC GT Masters in early 2021, he has been held in high esteem by teams and drivers.
Under his leadership, the topic of track limits in the races has almost disappeared. With creative ideas, he threw outdated principles overboard and, with the penalty loop, introduced a penalty that turned out to be useful.
Because one must not forget: Up to and including 2020, a drive-through penalty would have been the minimum penalty. And that would have thrown Marciello out of the top 10. Thanks to the penalty loop, he still finished second and left the Nürburgring as the match winner.
What is the final assessment of the matter?
Sven Stoppe didn’t make a wrong decision. The data shows two “sags” – a big one at the beginning and a small one afterwards. An interpretation of twelve km/h less than “abnormally slow” is difficult to attack.
Bottom line, all points for a penalty are given: A 25 percent slowdown for no apparent reason while simultaneously blocking an opponent satisfies both of the offenses in Article 30.10. Race director Sven Stoppe imposed the penalty immediately without handing the case over to the stewards.
You could certainly put the entire box system to the test with the standardized times. However, if the minimum times were abolished, the competition would shift from the track (overtaking is still difficult with ABS and traction control for cars of the same speed) to the pits and the costs for the teams would be inflated – not what the ADAC GT Masters currently needs.
Usually teams shy away from the decision in the pits. The normal case for the person behind is actually the “opposite” pit call, i.e. always doing what the person in front is not doing. That was just not practical this time because there were lapped vehicles in front of Engel and Gounon that had already completed their pit stop. These would only have cost time.
Against this background, games that rarely occur when driving off in a direct duel are seen as the lesser evil.